POST GRADUATE PROGRAMME IN MANAGEMENT

Academic Year: 2024-25 | Term: II

Business Ethics

Credits: One
Course instructor: Prof. Ashok Prasad, Prof. Shashank Ananth,
Prof. Ramachandran Veetikazhi.
Email: ashok@astra.xlri.ac.in | Phone: 9972003530
Email: shashank.ananth@gmail.com | Phone: 9845166826
Email: drveetikazhi@gmail.com | Phone: 9444990086
Consultation hours: Participants may prior appointment through email.

Course Introduction:
Business is one of the most structured form of institutions, which has big impact upon the societal
well-being and growth. A business institution is required to be run by keeping well-being of the
stakeholders in mind, which is none other than its ethical responsibility toward the society as
whole. If we start reflecting on the courses of action that the business institutions have been
bringing about, we will find that their courses of action are resulting in various kinds of ethical
breakdowns. These breakdowns are not only creating problems for the stakeholders in general, but
also for the concerned business institutions in the long run. In short, these ethical breakdowns are
hampering the sustainability aspect of the business institutions. Therefore, there is a necessity for
each business institution to get cognizant of the nature of ethical breakdowns and also of the viable
ethical ways to weed out the causes of ethical breakdowns.

An endeavor has been made in this course to get the participants exposed to the real-life ethical
dilemmas and ethical challenges in business, through the analyses of the cases taken place in some
business institutions. At the end of this course, the participants would be able to appreciate the
ethical decision making in the context of business and also would be able to take an ethically
sensitive decision/action required in a complex situation.

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Course Objectives:
1. To make the participants aware of the relevance and importance of ethics and social
responsibility in business and facilitate them to identify ethically complex issues or
dilemmas that are encountered in one’s working life at the individual, organizational, and
societal levels.
2. To get the participants exposed to various espoused ethical perspectives and key ethical
principles required for analysing those complex ethical issues
3. To enable the participants to take ethically justified action(s) to come out of the ethically
dilemmas and complex issues

The following table provides a mapping of the learning outcomes of this course with their
corresponding programme goals.

Course Learning Programme Goals Achieved Assessment Tools

S#
Outcomes by the Course
1 To make the participants
aware of the relevance and
importance of ethics and
social responsibility in
business and facilitate
them to identify ethically 5. Ethical Reasoning
complex issues or
dilemmas that are
encountered in one’s
working life at the
individual, organizational, 5a. Demonstrating ability to
and societal levels. make business decisions based
on ethical considerations and Question(s) embedded in
2 To get the participants awareness of responsibilities to end-term
exposed to various all relevant stakeholders
espoused ethical including society and
perspectives and key environment.
ethical principles required
for analysing those
complex ethical issues

3 To enable the participants

to take ethically justified
action(s) to come out of the
ethically dilemmas and
complex issues

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Pedagogy:
The course is structured to be a judicious combination of lectures, discussions, cases, and video
documents (whenever it is required). Participants will be evaluated based on their performance in
Class Participation, Project Report (group based), and End Term Examination.

Course material:
John R. Boatright, D. Smith Jeffrey and Bibhu P. Patra. 2017. Ethics and The Conduct of Business.
Eighth edition, Pearson, India. [Textbook]
https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/9352862309/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8
&psc=1

Course prerequisites:
No prerequisite is required as it is a basic and core course

Subscription caps (if any):

Not required as it is a core course
Evaluation scheme:
Type
Evaluation Component Weightage Remarks, if any
(Individual/Group)
C1: Class Participation Individual 15
C2: End Term Examination Individual 50
C3: Project Report Group 35

Class Participation: The participants are required to analyze the given case and the issues
specified in each session. The marks will be awarded on the basis of quality and novelty in the
analyses. The participants are required to read the given case specified for each session before
coming for the session.

Project Report: The project report is required to be rooted in the Indian context. Further details
of the project report will be communicated to the participants separately. Guidelines for the
development of project report will be shared with the participants after Session 1. Each group of
participants is required to identify an organization which has done or is involved in some unethical
practices. The concerned group has to analyze the issue surrounded around the main unethical
practice, in the light of at least three sound ethical perspectives, discussed in the course. At the end
of the project report, the concerned group is expected to come up with clear findings and suggest
ethically viable solution(s) through its recommendation. Negative marks will be awarded, if any
project report is found ‘not following the guidelines’ and ‘having the instance(s) plagiarism’.

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 Course Learning
S# Assessed in C1 Assessed in C2 Assessed in C3
Outcomes
1 To make the participants
aware of the relevance
and importance of ethics
and social responsibility
in business and facilitate
them to identify ethically
complex issues or 🗸 🗸 🗴
dilemmas that are
encountered in one’s
working life at the
individual,
organizational, and
societal levels
2 To get the participants
exposed to various
espoused ethical
perspectives and key
ethical principles 🗴 🗸 🗸
required for analysing
those complex ethical
issues
3 To enable the participants
to take ethically justified
action(s) to come out of 🗸 🗸 🗴
the ethically dilemmas
and complex issues

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Session-wise course outline:

S. Topics covered Case (if any) Pre-class readings

No.
1 Pivotal Role of Ethics in Student examples of • Textbook: Chapter 1
Business; Ethical Dilemmas; ethical/unethical • Paine, L. S. (1996). Moral
Ethical Breakdowns; Moral businesses thinking in management: An
Imagination essential capability. Business
Ethics Quarterly, 6(4), 477-
492.

2 Ethical Frameworks and Merck and the • Textbook: Chapters 2 & 3

Principles: A Way to Marketing of Vioxx
Development Ethical [Textbook pages 1-5]
Positions
3 Whistle-Blowing. Conflict of Interest in • Textbook: Chapters 4 & 5
Business Information and Asian Paints
Conflict of Interest [Textbook pages 145-
147]
4 Invasion of Privacy: Ethical Information Handling • Textbook: Chapter 6
Issues and Guidelines at ChoicePoint
[Textbook: 177 – 178]

5 Unjust Dismissal: Ethical Fired for Blogging at • Textbook: Chapter 8

Issues and Guidelines Google [Textbook: • Harcourt, M., Hannay, M., &
236 – 237] Lam, H. (2013). Distributive
justice, employment-at-will
and just-cause dismissal.
Journal of Business Ethics,
115(2), 311-325.

6 4Ps: Ethical Issues and Discussion on The • Textbook: Chapter 10

Guidelines Guidelines for • Crane, A. (2001). Unpacking
Prevention and the ethical product. Journal of
Regulation of Dark Business Ethics, 30(4), 361-
Patterns, 2023 (The 373.
Gazette of India)
7 Corporate Social CSR and the • Textbook: Chapters 12 & 14
Responsibility and Controversial Case of
International Business Tata Tea Funding of
Ethics: Ethical Issues and ULFA Militants: An
Guidelines Ethical Analysis
[Textbook: 404 – 409]

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About the instructor:
Ashok received his MBA from FMS, University of Delhi and has completed a Master’s program in
Sustainability from Harvard University with Honours (Dean’s List). He is a Fellow in Management of
XLRI Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur. He has over two decades of professional experience
as a profit-centre/divisional head with leading multinational organisations in India and the Middle
East. Since 2016, he has pursued a ‘second career’ as an Educator and Researcher. His areas of
expertise are Business Sustainability/Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Governance,
Business Ethics and Circular Economy.
His doctoral research at XLRI, Jamshedpur, on brand CSR (co-author Ravi Shekhar Kumar) has been
published in the International Journal of Consumer Studies (Wiley). His article on Circular Social
Innovation (co-author Mathew Manimala) has appeared in Stanford Social Innovation Review. He has
contributed a chapter (co-author Mathew Manimala) in the book ‘Social Enterprises & Sustainable
Business Models’ published by Palgrave Macmillan, London. His articles have also been published by
Economic Times, Guardian Sustainable Business, Engage for Good and The Conference Board.

Shashank Ananth is a visiting faculty at IIM Tiruchirappalli for the last 3 years, teaching
managerial communication and business ethics to PGPM students. He is a seasoned
corporate professional who balances work commitments with his passion to teach and also
mentors early-stage startups and founders.
Shashank’s vast experience spans two decades and various industries and functions,
including B2B eCommerce, manufacturing services, agritech, technology products and
advertising. He has worn several hats including that of an entrepreneur, marketer, product
manager, and a business leader.
Presently, Shashank serves as a founding member and Chief Business Officer at Moonrider,
an innovative electric vehicle technology OEM scaling globally and has previously held the
position of an Associate Vice-President - Strategic Initiatives at Ninjacart (India’s largest
agritech company). As an entrepreneur, he founded and managed Virtual Metalstreet, a B2B
marketplace optimizing raw material procurement for the manufacturing and construction
industries.
Earlier in his career, he was heading global strategic marketing at Moog Inc., a US$3B NYSE-
listed company focused on precision technology products and services. He spearheaded
new product introductions, commercialization, global pricing, and marketing
communication across the US, Europe and APAC and was an internal consultant on strategic
initiatives with several country management teams. Having worked across varied
geographies for several years, he has developed an appreciation for diverse cultures, teams
and regional nuances.
Shashank began his career as an advertising professional at Leo Burnett Orchard, gaining
invaluable experience in brand management and communication across aviation,
automotive, and FMCG sectors. He holds a commerce degree from the Bangalore University,
a PGDM from St. Joseph' s Institute of Management, and has completed his EPGM from the
SC Johnson College of Business at the Cornell University.
Outside his professional and academic commitments, Shashank is passionate about sports
and fitness and is a competitive state masters and open waters swimmer.
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Dr. Veetikazhi teaches business ethics at IIT Gandhinagar and IIT Hyderabad. He also teaches Talent
Management at IIT Madras. Earlier, he headed the Learning & Development of Marketing Division. He
is also a member of Area Advisory Board for Strategy and Consulting at the Goa Institute of
Management.
He holds a BTech in Electrical Engineering and an MBA with specialization in HR. He has a joint Ph.D.
in Management Sciences from IIT Madras and the University of Duisburg-Essen. Dr.Veetikazhi’s
research interests include behavioural ethics, responsible leadership, goal setting, social responsibility,
and focalism.
Dr. Veetikazhi is the winner of the Institute Research Award 2021 of IIT Madras for his outstanding
doctoral research. He holds to his name several significant publications on ethics published in some of
the most reputed international journals that deal with business ethics, including the International Journal
of Human Research Management, Group and Organisation Management, Business and Society, etc.
Dr.Veetikazhi was also honoured with a Magna Cum Laude for his thesis by the University of Duisburg-
Essen, Germany. He also reviews ethics-related articles for international journals such as Management
Decision, Evidence-based HRM, Journal of Leadership & organizational Studies, Baltic Journal of
Management, and Cogent Business & Management.
Dr.Veetikazhi has won a number of awards and instruments of appreciation from IndianOil, including
for innovation related to pneumatic automation. During his tenure as the head of L&D of Mktng Div,
he and his team developed HANSA Leadership program for early career executives. A research paper
related to HANSA program won the best paper award at TA Pai Management Institute (TAPMI). The
L&D team, under his stewardship, also developed the Virtual Reality Studio at IMCL in collaboration
with IIT Madras.
He is a member of the Society for Business Ethics and a regular faculty for business ethics for IndianOil
officers.

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 Appendix 1: PGPM Programme Goals

Programme Goals Programme Outcomes

1. LEADERSHIP AND 1a. Displaying skills required to lead and manage in organizational contexts.
ENTREPRENEURIAL
SKILLS 1b. Demonstrating an ability to be creative and innovative in any organizational or entrepreneurial
context.
2. MANAGEMENT 2a. Displaying knowledge and understanding of all functions of management.
COMPETENCY -
FUNCTIONAL AND 2b. Demonstrating ability to apply multidisciplinary thinking to address managerial challenges
INTEGRATIVE and opportunities.

3. DECISION MAKING 3a. Demonstrating ability to identify the central problem/issue in a decision-making situation,
gather relevant information, and apply appropriate tools to arrive at a solution.
3b. Demonstrating an ability to make reasoned choices in ambiguous and less structured
managerial situations.
4. COMMUNICATION 4a. Displaying effective oral and written communication, and professional presentation skills.
SKILLS
4b. Demonstrating professional approach in interacting with others.

5. ETHICAL 5a. Demonstrating ability to make business decisions based on ethical considerations and
REASONING awareness of responsibilities to all relevant stakeholders including society and environment.

6. INTERPERSONAL 6a. Developing interpersonal skills to effectively engage with a diverse set of people and contexts.
AND TEAM SKILLS
6b. Demonstrating an ability to work in teams.